Manufacture of plastic materials and to apparatus therefor



Aug. 2. 1927.

F. T. SMALL ET AL MANUFACTURE OF PLASTIC MATERIALS AND TO APPARATUS THEREFOR s Sheets-Shet 1.

Filed April 7, 1923 INVENTORS FREDERICK '1'. SMALL AND -'-'ILLIAM A. DICKIE By their Attorneys,

- 1,637,715 F. T. SMALL ET AL MANUFACTURE OF PLASTIC MATERIALS AND TO APPARATUS THEREFOR Filed April 7, 1923 s Sheets- Sheet 2 INVENTORS FREDERICK 'I. SMALL AND WILLIAM A. .DICKIE By their Attorneys,

g 1927 F. T. SMALL ET AL MANUFACTURE OF PLASTIC MATERIALS AND TO APPARATUS THEREFOR Filed April 6,1925 3 Shoets-Sheet INVENTORS By their .Attorn'eys,

Patented a8. 2, i927.

'U NI 'I EQD STATE'S PA ENroF icE.

rnnnn'mcxrnou'ron SMALL AND wrnnrnm mmonia 'nrcx'm, or sronnon, mum DERBY, ENGLAND, Assxonons 'ro cnmmasn conroanrrron or AMERICA, A con- PORATION OF DELAWARE.

mmumc'runn or rnasrrc MATERIALS AND TO APPARATUS 'rn'nnnro'n.

App'licatlon'flle'd Apr11 7, 1923, Serial No. 680,608, and in Great Britain M121, 1922.

whether as the result of the process of manu-' facture of such plastic materials or as the result of prolonged seasoning. The invention applies in particular to celluloid-like plastic materialsconsisting of or having a basisof celluloie acetate but may be applied to plastic materials consisting of or having a basis of other fatty acid celluloseesters 15 or of ethyl, benzyl or other \ethers of cellulose -or of other low-flammable cellulose derivatives. v -v I The .'nvention applies especially to the cutting of sheets from blocks such as referred to, but it may also be applied for cutting rods and like lengths out of the same. f

Blocks of plastic materials such as before referred to, containing no volatile solvent or very little volatile solvent, present special clifliculties in cutting into sheets, owing to the resistance which they present to the passage of the knife, and; it has therefore not been hitherto possible to cut sheets from such blocks easily and evenly.'

According to the present-invention the block of cellulose acetate or other plastic material such vas referred to, is out into.

sheets withthe aid of a heated knife so that the material in the neighbourhood of the knife is'softened or rendered plastic by the hot edge of the knife and can thus yield more readily to the cutting edge and allow the sheet to be more easily and evenly sev- 40 ered from the block.

According to a furtherpart of the invention we may apply heat, to the surface layers of the blrgk sowasktmheat the same to a S 'greater'or less depth, and thereby further facilitate the cutting of the sheets from the block. Such surface heating may extend to -any"desired depth according-to, the depth of the cutto be madedr' other, circumstances.v Theknife may be heated by anysuitable i means, as for example by-passing steam through channels therein, or by circulating any n v for the blocks of plastic material, base plates hot oil through such channels, or b "electric resistance heating, but preferably y means of electrical induction heating.

Any suitable device or devices may be employed for applying heat to the surface layers of the block as mentioned. Such devices may consist for example of one or more heated plates, blocks or surfaces disposed ;or adapted to contact with the block of plastic 0 material which is cut by the heated knife. The surface layer heating device or devices may-be heated by any suitable means such for example as steam, hot oil .or electric resistance orinduction heating, but preferably the latter.

The base of the block of plastic material should be firmly held, so that the pressure ofthe knife shall not lift or shift the block during the cut. This may be effected by suitable means, such as by employing or carriersprov-ided with'dovetail or other grooves or keyin devices into which the plastic material f the block ispressed, for example in the operation ,of moulding-the I block in the block press,'and which can then be transferred with the block to the cutting machine andsecured therein for cutting the sheets. It is important that the material in 0 a front of the knife shall offer less resistance to deformation than the material at the parts keyed or otherwise heldto the base or carrier, as otherwisethe block would be persistently pushing off the base or .carrier. This resultcan be attained by the employment of aheatedknife or tool according to the invention.

For cutting the blocks into sheets any suitable machine may be.employed, such as reciprocating planing or sheeting machines of the character employed in the pro- .duction of celluloid sheets, but provided with the requisite "means for heating the knife, and with auxiliary means for heating the surface layers of the blggk if suchaiixil-i iary heating is to beem'ployed. Such auxiliary heating means mayin particular consist of heated blocks or plates extending across the machine at a suitable distance in front of andbehind/the 'knife' respectgel-yf and arranged by s pring pressure or other- Wise to make contact with the'surface of I ternating circuit. A very low voltage alterthe block as this travels under the knife. nating current is supplied to the knife heater Such heating blocks or plates may be ar cable 25, whereby the rapidly changing mag-' ranged to be raised and lowered together. 'netic field due to the current in this cable with the knife or independently of it. heats the steel bar 22 in contact with the .We willdescribe .by wayof illustration, knife. This method is preferred as being i withreference to the I accompanying drawsafe from dangers of fires due to short eirings, one form of apparatus constructed in cuits 'or fusing of resistances such as might accordance with the invention,"1t' belng un occur w th reslstance heating, and lOll'1l)C1I- derstood that this is only given by way of tures up to about 200 C. can be maintained 7:. v

exampleand that themeans for heating the and readily controlled with such an arrangeknife and the surface -heating devices, and ment. The heat from the electrical heater the "details of construction, may be varied extending along the knife istransmittcd to without; departing from the spirit of the inthe cutting edge, i. e. the place of actual. vention, and also that the surface heating shearing of the material, thus rendering the to means may be omitted or varied as desired. ma ii l 'in C II flC ith the edge more The drawings show the invention applied plastic andreducing the resistance to such to a planing or sheeting machine of the well an extent that the. material can be readily known type, only so much of the machine being shown as'is necessary to enable the in- The height of the knife carrier above the vention to be understood, bed of the machine can be varied by the Fig. 1 is a sectional l vation of th a micrometer screw 11 to adjust the depth of paratus, the section being taken on the out. taken y he knife- 7 2 broken line AQB Fig. 2. v v 28, 29 are iron blocks or plates extending Fig. 2 is a plan of the apparatus, across the machine in front of and behind Fig. 3 is a detail sid l vation and Fig, 4 the knife respectively, and arranged to be is a plan of the knife and knife carrier block, hea ed electrically, preferably by electric and Fig. 5 is a vertical section on lin C induction heating, in a similar way to the Fi 4, knife. 30,30 and 31,31 indicate the electric 1 represents the usual bed or table of th leads therefor. These heating irons 28, 2!) machine which i recipi-o at d on gih of th are mounted on side bearers or yoke bars 32, side frames 2 by the usual means, not shown, in such connection with the knife c211- 3'is a carrier plate for the block to be out, r age"? that as the-knife is lowered the heatthis plate being removably secured on the ing' ironsare lowered with it, while providbed 1 by screwing to angle bars-4= thereon mg the necessary resilience. For this pur- (Fig. 1). The block 5 to be out is keyed as pose the heating irons 28, 29 shown as before mentioned o th n i r l t 3 by formed with studs or stems 33, the reduced dovetail grooves as shown at 6 Fig. 1. upper ends of which project through holes 7 is the transverse frameor knife carriage inthe side bearers 32 and ,are threaded in that carries th knif a ri r bl k's, thi receive retaining nuts 34-, the side bearers 32 W5 frame or bridge being ertically dju t bl passing through gaps 35 in the sides of the in guides or gibs 9 of id frames 10by a knife carriage 7, tension springs 36, 36 being micrometer screw 11 mounted in a transfitted 0n the stems 33 between the heating verse head plate 1.2 and workin i th t irons 28, 29 and the side bearers 32, and sup- 13 0f the bridge 7 and operated by a hand porting springs 37 being fitted in sockets :18, im wheel 14 (Fig. 2) through wo g ar 15, 16 38 to embrace the stems 33 below the heating as usual. irons while springs 39, 39 fitted in sockets 4-0 8 is the knife carrier block, which is in- (Fig. 1) in the sides of the knife carriage 7 sulated from the knife carrier bridge 7 by bear on the top of the side bearers 32. The v an asbestos sheeting 17. v 18 is the knif arrangement of the heating irons is such 11R mounted on the knife carrier block 8 by that they can make light contact With the adjusting screws 19. working in threaded surface of the material to be cut. The tenholes 20 thereof (Fig. 3) and serving for Sion springs 37 prevent the heating irons levelling the knife, 21 is an asbestos sheet from fouling the surface 'Of the material and fitted between knife 18 and knife carrier spoiling its appearance, and the leading-and block 8. 22, 22 are two iron bars extending following edges of. the heating irons are the width of the knife and making good meshown as rounded with the same object. The tallic contact therewith, these bars eaeh hav supportin springs 37 and 39serve to carryv 'inga semicircular groove so that when se-' the bcaref' sdHFt-heheatin ir'ensina mean -cured' together by the bolts 23, 24 they ac position suited to the heig t of thdhlhekfi i2? commodat'e betw en them a length ofthick be cntand may-also "serve to take up in .copper cable screwing into equalities 1n the heights of the heating irons the knife 18 as seen in Fig 57"TlWCE 25 Producml y the p eti cutting extends the width of the knife and has its h heating irons SerVETO l lh ends connected to the leads 26, 27 of an 211- face layrsmf the block or slab of material I travelling beneath them to a suit-able depth,

say about equal to the depth of the .deslred out.

In operation, the block of material, keyed to the carrier plate referred to, is secured on the reciprocating bed 1 of the machine, and the knife and heating irons are lowerek to the desired extent for the cut, the sheet being severed from the block or slab in the forward travel of the latter against the knife. The knife and heating irons can then be further lowered for the'next cut and so on. In order to secure heating throughout the necessary de th before removing a very thick sheet, t e heating ironsonly maybe lowered, the knife being removed, and the table be allowed to travel to and fro so that the block or slab is ironed by the heating irons, the knife being then replaced and lowered to effect the cut.

.The knife and heating irons might of course be reciprocated instead of the bed or table ofthe machine. I

Instead of arranging the knife and heating irons to be lowered to ether, they may be arranged to be lowered independently of each other. p

The rocess above described can be readily applied for the-cutting of rods'or like lengths of material 'of round, square or any other sectional shape out of blocks of materials of the character referred to, containing no volatile solvents or only a very small amount thereof. For this purpose it is only necessary to employ heated knives or cutting tools of the required shapes according to the sec- .tional shape of the lengths. to be cut. In

conjunction with the cutting tool an auxiliary device or devices for heating the surface layers of the block may be employed in a manner similar to what is above described. The tools for cutting the rods or other lengths of material maybe of any known or suitable kind, such for example as the cold tools which are commonly employed for cut ting such rods or lengths out of volatile solvent-containing blocks of celluloid, but

provided with means for heating the knife or cutting tool, for example electric heating means similar to-those above described for heating the sheet cutting knife. For cutvting rods, for example, one or more tools comprising a circular cutting edge may be employed just like those usually employed for cutting rods from ordinary volat1le-sol-- vent containing celluloid blocks, but pro-- vided with electricor other heating means, and, for clearing away the material or residue between the portions cut by the rod or like cutting tool, clearing tools like those usually employed for this purpose in cutting rods and the like. from ordinary celluloid blocks may be used to clear away the residue between the cuts and straighten the top of the block, the clearing tool being also heated.

"The tools may be mountedin the knownway in a frame or carrier adapted to be traversed across the block by a handle and screw, for cutting out the rods or like lengths consecutively across the block in the known way.

In short the tools and cutting mechanism may be-like those commonly em loyed for cutting rods or lengths out of or inary celluloid blocks, but provided with heating means. v

The traversing toolframe or carrier re ferred to; may be mounted in place of the sheet cutting knife on the knife carrier block of a sheet cutting machine such as above described.

One or more heating blocks or plates for heating the surface layers of the block may be employed in conjunction with the cutting tools, and ma be arranged to be raised and lowered toget er therewith or independently of same. For this purpose one or more heating plates or irons may be employed behind or before or both behind and before the cutting tool, similarly to what is above described, or one may employ the same heating plate or plates as those particularly above described for this purpose, simply substituting the cutting tool attachment in place of the sheet cutting knife.

Rods or other lengths obtained by cutting with hot tools as described present the advantage over those cut inthe usual way with cold tools from ordinary volatile solvent containing material that'they do not require to be seasoned at all or but very little andtherefore. do notundergo the distortion ,to

which the latter are subject during theseasoning which they require.

For the purposeofthe invention any other suitable machine or apparatus than that de scribed may be employed, comprising a heated knife or tool, and any other suitable means may,be employed for applying heat to the- "surface layers of'the material to'be cut into up cellulose derivative and substantially free.

from volatile solvent, characterized in that the sheets are'cut from. the block of said materia'lby means of a heated knife, whereby materials having a basis of low-flammable j the low-flammable celluloid-like material in the neighborhood of the knife is softened and rendered plastic, and that auxiliary heat is applied to the surface layers of the block to heat the same and thereby further facilitate the cutting of the sheets therefrom by the heated knife.

3. A sheet cutting machine for cutting sheets from blocks of low-flammable celluloid-like materials having a basis oflowfiammable cellulose derivative and substantially free from volatile solvent, said ma chine comprising a sheet cutting knife, means for heating said-knife and auxiliary heating means for a lying heat to the surface layers ofthe lockto be cut-by the heated knife.

4. A sheet cutting machine for cutting sheets from blocks of l0w-flammable celluloid-like materials having a basis of lowflammable cellulose derivative'and 'substan tially free from volatile solvent, said ma chine comprising in combination a reciprocating bed for the block, a sheet cutting knife disposed above the bed, means for heating the sheet ,cutting knife, means for knife disposed above the bed, resiliently "mou'ntedauxiliary heating means disposed above the bed and adapted to be lowered together with the knife and in the lowered position to contact with the surface of the block in the reciprocation and thereby to heat the surface layers thereof, means for i heating the sheet cutting knife and saidauxtogether.

iliary heatin means, and means for lowering said kni e and'auxiliary heating means 6. A sheet cutting machine for cutting sheets from blocks of lowflammable celluloid-like materials having a basis of lowflammable cellulose derivative and substansame by electric induction.

tially free from volatile solvent, said machine comprising in combination a reciproeating bed for the block, a sheet cuttingknife disposed" above-the bed and adapted to be raised andlowered, resiliently mounted surface layer heating plates dis osed surface of the'b'lock in the reciprocation and said surface layer heating plates.

7. A. sheet cutting machine for cutting sheets from blocks of low flamniable celluloid-like materials having a basis of lowflammable cellulose derivative and substantially free from volatile solvent, said ma- 7 chine comprising in combination a recipro- 'cating bed for the block, a sheet' cutting V knife disposed above the bed and adaptedto' be raised and lowered, resiliently'mounted surface layer heating plates disposed above the bedbefore and behind the knife and adapted to be lowered together with the knife and in the lowered position to contact with the surface of the-block in the reciprocation and therebyto heat the surface layers of the block, means for heating said,

knife and surface layer heating plates, and means for lowering the knife and surface layer heating plates together.

above the bed before and behind the nife f f Y and adapted to, be raised and lowered and 9 in the lowered position to contact with the thereby to heat the surface layers of the block, and'means for. heating said knife and 8. A sheet cutting machine for cutting" sheets from blocks of low-flammable celluloid-like materials having a basis of lowflammable cellulose derivative and substantially free from volatile solvent, said machine comprising Ia sheet cutting. knife in combination with means for heating the 9. A sheet cutting machine for cutting sheets from blocks of-low-flammable cellu-,

loid-like materials having a basis of lowtially free from volatile solvent, said machine comprising a sheet cutting knife, an auxiliary heating device adapted to contact flammable cellulose derivative and substan- I l with the surface of the block and thereby,

to heat the surface layers of the block, and means for heating said knife and said auxiliary heating device by electric induction. In'testimony' whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names. FREDERICK .TROUTON SMALL. WILLIAM ALEXANDER DICKIE. 

